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Gold coins, gold bullion, silver coins, and silver bullion are the best investments for gold and silver investors. The best gold bullion coins and silver bullion coins are summarized on this page. For more information on gold and silver bullion and coins, visit other pages on this Web site.

"Precious metals have had value in all civilizations, have survived all financial crises, and can be expected to do the same in the future. However, it is to all investors' interests that they know what they are doing before investing in precious metals."

Bill Haynes
President
CMI Gold & Silver, Inc.

Does your gold have to be reported?

NO!

Gold purchases do not have to be reported. This myth is so pervasive that CMI feels obligated to clarify this misunderstanding repeatedly.

Silver Eagle Monster Box

A US Mint sealed box of Silver Eagles

Silver Eagle Monster Box is silver investors' vernacular for a US Mint sealed box of Silver Eagles. Occasionally, a Silver Eagle Monster Box is called a Green Monster Box because of the box' deep green color. A Silver Eagle Monster Box contains five hundred 1-oz .999 fine Silver Eagles, which are packaged twenty-five tubes to a box, twenty Silver Eagles to a tube.

American Eagle silver dollars

Officially, Silver Eagles are silver dollars because they carry a "face value" of one dollar. ONE DOLLAR is stamped on the reverse (back) of the coin. Legally, a Silver Eagle could be spent with a one dollar value, but, obviously, no one would do that because the value of the silver in a Silver Eagle greatly exceeds one dollar.

Silver Eagle pricing

The US Mint sells Silver Eagles at a premium to the world price of silver (commonly called spot silver). The markup over spot enables the Mint to turn out Silver Eagles at a profit. The Mint also sells other coins at a profit, such as world's best-selling 1-oz gold bullion coins, the American Eagle Gold Coins, and various commemorative coins.

The Royal Canadian Mint's has a comparable program for Canadian silver coins, selling 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs and 1-oz Silver Maple Leafs. The RCM's Silver Maple Leafs also are packaged 500 to a box.

(The Silver Maple Leaf box is yellow and has not gained a colorful nickname as have Silver Eagleswith their Silver Eagle Monster Box. Actually, it is unlikely that sealed boxes of Silver Maple Leafs will receive any such nickname. If it were not for Fenway Park's Green Monster wall in left field, it is doubtful that a sealed box of Silver Eagles would have ever been called a Silver Eagle Monster Box.)

In addition to the US Mint's markup, a Silver Eagle Monster Box is marked up further by the Mint's authorized distributors and by retailer silver dealers, such as CMI Gold & Silver Inc.

How can the Mint do that?

A frequent question about the pricing of Silver Eagles is, "How can the Mint sell $1 Silver Eagles for more than $1?) Actually, it's an insightful question because the Mint does not sell dimes, quarters and half-dollars to banks for more than face value. So, how can it sell $1 Silver Eagles for more than $1?

The short answer: Congress passed a law permitting the Mint to sell Silver Eagles at more than face value. The same law permits the Mint to sell $50 face value 1-oz Gold Eagles at more than $50. Without the law, the Mint would have to release Silver Eagles at $1, which, of course, it would not do because an ounce of silver costs much more than $1.

How to buy a Silver Eagle Monster Box

Buying a Silver Eagle Monster Box is easy. Call CMI Gold & Silver Inc. and a broker will quote you a delivered price, which includes insurance. For a quick delivery, be prepared to wire funds the same day you place your order. However, if sending a wire transfer is an inconvenience, ask about sending a personal check.

Unlike a lot of gold dealers, we take personal checks. Still, just as the wire has to be sent the same day the order is placed, the personal check has to be dropped in the mail the same day. CMI Gold & Silver Inc. takes calls 7:00 am to 5:00 pm MST, Mondays through Fridays.

If you are contemplating buying a Silver Eagle Monster Box or buying or selling any gold or silver products, read out Doing Business with CMIGS page. This page will help you better understand how the retail precious metals industry works.

Should you open a Silver Eagle Monster Box?

A few years ago, there was a major promotion of Silver Eagle sets that contained MS69- and/or MS70-graded Silver Eagles. Some of the sets contained NGC-graded Silver Eagles; some of the sets contained PCGS-graded coins. In order to get coins of all the years, coins that would grade MS69 or MS70, promoters paid higher prices for sealed boxes of Silver Eagles.

Therefore, many coin dealers tell buyers of Silver Eagle Monster Boxes not to open them because a similar situation may arise in the future, where sealed Silver Eagle Monster Boxes may command higher premiums. At CMIGS, we see little value in keeping unopened Green Monster Boxes in anticipation of that happening again.

The unopened boxes that commanded significant premiums were the short mintage years, 1996 and 1994. For a while, 1986, the first year Silver Eagles, carried high premiums. But, as the promotion winded down, premiums on all the coins fell in line. Because of being a short mintage year, 1996 Silver Eagles still carry higher premiums than other backdated Silver Eagles.

(Note: CMI Gold & Silver Inc. does not sell Silver Eagles by dates. We may at times have backdated Silver Eagles, which usually sell at lower premiums than new Silver Eagles, but we not inventory and sell them by dates. In fact, the minimum Silver Eagle order at CMIGS is 500 coins, a Silver Eagle Monster Box, sometimes called a Green Monster Box.)

Now, the case for opening a sealed Silver Eagle Monster Box. If you do not open it, how will you know that really received Silver Eagles? Still, at CMIGS we know of no one ever having opened a Green Monster Box and finding any thing other than Silver Eagles. Many Green Monster Box buyers, after having opened their first and/or second purchase, quit opening them.

A final note: CMIGS does not recommend Silver Eagles as survival coins because they would contain a lot value in a "survival situation." For survival coins, CMIGS recommends buying silver coins, generally referred to as junk silver coins.

Call CMI at 1-800-528-1380 for answers to any questions or clarifications. Our hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, Mondays through Fridays. Our offices are in the middle of the Phoenix, Arizona financial district. CMI has had the same bank account since its inception in 1973. References available on request